Mommy For A Minute

Lauren looked out her bedroom window, surprised to see dark clouds. She checked her watch. It was four-thirty, later than Ally usually slept, but it shouldn’t be totally dark outside.

She hurried to the television and turned it to the Weather Channel. They were predicting a big storm at any moment, with possible tornadic activity. Lauren wasn’t sure what to do.

Deciding not to bother Jack, since there was nothing he could do, she found a game Ally could play and used it to distract her.

“I love chutes and ladders,” Ally exclaimed as they played a second game.

“Yes, it’s fun, isn’t it? Does Daddy play it with you?”

“Sometimes. But I have to take my bath and get in bed. So we play it on Saturdays.”

“I see.”

“Can we go see if Daddy wants to play now?”

“Well, he’s working. But it’s almost time for him to stop. Maybe we’d better go tell him about the storm.”

About that time, the rain began. It was thundering down hard, and she wasn’t surprised to see Jack at the windows, staring out.

“We came to tell you about the storm,” Lauren announced from the door.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed. It’s coming down pretty hard.”

“Yes.”

“When are your dinner guests arriving?”

“At six. I think I need to go put the casserole in the oven to heat up in case the electricity goes out.”

“Does that happen much here?”

“I don’t know. I just moved in a month ago. We sold the family home and divided up the money between the seven of us. I bought this place then. The owner was selling each unit by itself. I was lucky and got the owner’s place.”

“Go on and put it in the oven. Ally can help me pack up.”

“You can’t leave in this downpour. You’ll need to wait the storm out here. It’s too dangerous to drive in it.”

“We don’t want to get in your way. We’ll be fine.”

“That makes no sense. You’ll probably be doing me a favor. I’ll have a lot of food prepared and they probably won’t come.”

She went to the kitchen to start heating the casserole. Then she looked for candles. Just in case.

She put the candles where she could easily find them.

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was five-fifteen, too early for her guests. She hurried to the door and swung it open. Bill and Barry were standing on the front porch. “Hi. What are you two doing here?”

“We wanted to make sure you were doing okay in your new place. With a storm like this, you might have problems,” Barry said as he moved inside.

“But you shouldn’t have driven in this storm,” Lauren protested.

“We didn’t think it would get this bad,” Bill confessed. “If we hadn’t been over halfway here, we would’ve gone back.”

“Come on in and dry off. There are some towels in the bathroom.”

She went to her bedroom and found some sleep shirts her brothers could wear. “These aren’t good-looking, like your shirts, but they are dry.”

About that time, Jack and Ally came down the hall. “Oh, Jack, these are my brothers, Bill and Barry. They came to check up on me. This is Jack Mason. He’s working on my office.”

They all shook hands. Then the guys asked to see what Jack had done so far in the room.

“You might as well show them, Jack. You can’t possibly take Ally out in this.”

As they went past the dining room, the guys noticed the dinner table set for three. “You two were invited to dinner?” Barry asked.

“No, I think your brother James and a friend were having dinner with Lauren,” Jack said evenly, showing no resentment at Barry’s tone.

“Are they still doing that?” Bill asked. “I thought he would’ve gotten over that after a few weeks.”

“I believe he’s bringing someone to meet your sister.”

“A girl? Is he bringing a girl? What’s wrong with the boy?” Barry demanded. “You don’t do that unless you’re planning on doing something permanent. He’s not even twenty-two yet. Has he lost his mind?”

By that time, they’d reached the office and Jack showed them his drawing of what the room should look like when he’d finished.

“Hey, this will be nice,” Bill exclaimed.

Before anything else could be said, they all heard the doorbell ring again.

“Damn, he shouldn’t be bringing a girl here,” Barry protested again.

“Maybe we should wait a minute and give Lauren a chance to meet her without any protests from you two,” Jack said with a grin. “It might make it hard on James.”

“You know James?” Bill asked.

“No, Lauren told me about him at lunch.”

“You ate lunch with Lauren?”

“She insists on making lunch every day for us. I’m deducting a certain amount from my bill. She’s also taking care of Ally, too, until I can find someone to take her.”

“Cute kid, but did Lauren volunteer for that? I mean, she works long hours. I don’t see—”

“You didn’t know she’s not working for four weeks?”

The two men stared at Jack, their mouths open. Then they whirled around as one and started back to the front of the house.

“Uh-oh. Looks like I spilled the beans. We’d better go apologize to Lauren,” he muttered, taking Ally’s hand.

“I didn’t see any beans, Daddy.”

“I know, honey, but I should’ve.”

They reached the kitchen just as the two older brothers were greeting the other two guests. Lauren introduced Jack and Ally to James and a beautiful young woman named Cheryl.

Before Jack could say anything, Barry demanded to know why his sister wasn’t working for four weeks. Lauren shot Jack a look, obviously understanding how that information had gotten out.

“I’m taking some time off. Why? Is that a problem?”

All three brothers stared at her. Finally, Bill said, “No, not if that’s what you want to do.”

“Yes, it is. I’m getting settled in my new place. And I’m taking care of Ally while Jack works.”

“Oh, sure. We didn’t realize Jack was a friend.” Bill shot a look at Jack, obviously reevaluating his status as friend—or maybe more than friend.

Jack looked at Lauren, but he said nothing.

“Yes, well, I’ll need to add a few places to the table,” Lauren said, not bothering to explain, as she had to Jack earlier that day.

“May I help?” Cheryl asked, and Lauren immediately gave her something to do, making her feel welcome.

Within minutes, Lauren had expanded her dinner for three to dinner for seven. She added more broccoli to the pot and cut up more salad. She put Bill and Barry to peeling more potatoes, and suggested to James that he entertain Jack and Ally.

Just as they sat down to dinner the electricity went out. Lauren found the candles and matches and they ate their dinner by candlelight. Outside, the storm raged.

“I like this dinner, Lauren. What did you call the casserole?” Jack asked.

“Chicken spaghetti. It was one of Mom’s favorites.”

“Yeah, I love it,” James said, smiling at Cheryl.

“I’d love the recipe,” Cheryl said softly, looking at Lauren.

“Of course. Mom got it out of a church cookbook, so it didn’t originate with her. But it’s very filling and has a lot of good things in it,” Lauren explained.

“It’s a good thing you fixed a lot of it,” James said, “since Bill and Barry arrived.”

“You think we shouldn’t check on Lauren?” Barry demanded.

“You know I always come on Friday,” James pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is a bad storm. We were afraid she might find she had a leak or something like that,” Bill said. “You never know in a new place until it’s tested.”

A crack of thunder emphasized his words.

“Ooh, that was close,” Lauren said, staring out the window.

Ally whimpered, and her father comforted her. “We’re okay, baby. Don’t worry.”

Cheryl said, “I haven’t seen a storm like this before.”

“I remember a bad one when we were little,” Bill said. “We were frightened, but Mom and Dad calmed us down.”

“Yes, they were good at that,” Lauren said. “It’s different when you’re the adult. It’s easier to convince a child.”

“Yeah,” James agreed. “You used to tell me everything was all right.”

“But I was right, wasn’t I?” Lauren asked.

“Yeah, but—” Just then a booming crack of thunder resounded. “Do you want to tell me again?”

“I don’t think it works as well when you’re an adult.”

Lauren almost ducked at another loud boom of thunder. “Maybe we should just pretend it isn’t storming.”

Jack gave her a skeptical look.

She squared her jaw and got up from the table. “How about dessert? I made carrot cake.”

Her brothers showed enthusiasm, but Cheryl and Jack looked a little unsure.

James leaned over to Cheryl. “You’ll love it, honey. It’s one of Lauren’s specialties.”

“I’m willing to try it, but I’ve never had it before.” Cheryl gave Lauren a smile.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be upset if you don’t like it. James, will you get some saucers, and Bill, some clean forks, please?”

She took one of the candles from the table into the kitchen. The cake was heavy and she realized she couldn’t carry it and the candle at the same time. “Barry? I need some help here.”

She heard footsteps and assumed Barry had come to assist her. “Thanks. The cake is too heavy and—”

Turning around, she almost dropped the cake when she realized it was Jack who had followed her to the kitchen. “What happened to Barry?”

“He was still eating chicken so I volunteered. You needed help?”

Help was just what she needed. Help from her brother, not Jack. Somehow just being alone with him in the kitchen was making her nervous. She could feel her heart pick up the pace, and her voice was breathless when she finally responded, “You can take the cake.”

Jack reached out for it and, underestimating the heft, nearly dropped it. Acting on instinct, she flung out her arms and they met his hands as he got a tighter grip on the plate.

From the mere contact she felt a sizzle course from her hands up her arms, jolting her with its intensity. Pulling back as if burned, she grabbed the candle and spun toward the door, trying not to let Jack know she was running away.

The quick motion extinguished the flame on the candle, plunging the kitchen into darkness.

In her haste to escape, she ran into something hard, warm and…all male.

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